BirdTrout
Open the map
Where to hunt sharp-tailed grouse near Brainerd, Minnesota
Last updated 2026-09-24 · seasons from MN DNR · 2026 season year
There are 38 public units within 40 miles of Brainerd, Minnesota that hold ground where sharp-tailed grouse is recorded — 45,637 acres of it. The most of it is in Waukenabo, 27 miles out, with 10,148 recorded acres. The closest is Miscellaneous at 4 miles. The season runs September 19, 2026 to November 30, 2026 — on dates that depend on the zone, read against the 2026 season year from MN DNR. Public-land boundaries here are PAD-US, which records who manages a parcel rather than where the line runs or whether a unit carries a local closure — check with MN DNR before you park.
Public land within 40 miles of Brainerd
Distance is measured to the nearest edge of a unit rather than to its middle, in a straight line — this app carries no road network and will not print a drive time it cannot compute. A unit whose ground reaches inside the circle is listed for the acreage that is inside it, never for its statewide total.
Ordered by recorded acres — how much of each unit lies inside subbasins where sharp-tailed grouse is recorded at regular strength or better — rather than by how big the unit is. The biggest block in a state is often not in the half of it the bird is in. PAD-US splits a forest into many parcels, so acreage is summed over the unit's name, and the share is measured against the unit's drawn boundary rather than a centroid: a national forest can be two polygons across half a peninsula.
Season boundary not carried
MN DNR zones this season and this app does not hold the boundary, so
these units are not narrowed to it. Nothing here says the season is
open on any of them — read the boundary with MN DNR before you go.
Season geography here is read off a
dates table rather than the rule itself, and a dates table carries no boundary.
| Unit | Class | Miles | Recorded acres | Acres in range | Where the records are |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Waukenabo part of the unit | State forest | 27 | 10,148 | 11,916 | 85% regular, 15% present |
| Miscellaneous part of the unit | State forest | 4 | 5,408 | 12,409 | 44% regular, 4% present, 35% occasional, 17% no records |
| Ripple River WMA | Wildlife management area | 22.4 | 5,232 | 5,232 | 100% regular |
| Wealthwood | State forest | 21.5 | 3,454 | 5,106 | 68% regular, 32% no records |
| Aitkin WMA | Wildlife management area | 30.1 | 3,414 | 3,414 | 100% regular |
| Hill River part of the unit | State forest | 35.3 | 3,261 | 6,609 | 49% regular, 36% present, 14% occasional |
| Crow Wing | State forest | 11.8 | 2,145 | 6,507 | 33% regular, 67% occasional |
| Little Willow River WMA | Wildlife management area | 33 | 1,861 | 1,861 | 100% regular |
38 units clear the circle in all and the 8 holding the most recorded ground are named. The rest are ground a reader would drive past something better to reach.
A unit marked part of the unit has ground outside the circle as well, and the acreage here is only what is inside it. PAD-US records who manages a parcel, not where its line runs on the ground and not whether it carries a local closure: context, not permission. Check the unit with MN DNR before you park.
Season and limits
MN DNR's dates for the 2026 season year, read from MN DNR. Minnesota lists this season as Sharp-tailed grouse. It is zoned, and a circle drawn round a town is not a zone — check which zone a unit falls in before you go.
| Zone | Opens | Closes | Days |
|---|---|---|---|
| Northwest zone | September 19, 2026 | November 30, 2026 | 73 |
| East-central zone | Closed season | ||
- Open today
- Open in Northwest zone
- Bag limit
- not shown No single bag limit is shown for this species here — read the notes below and check the current MN DNR regulations before you go.
- Hunter orange
- required
- Shooting hours
- not carried
- Minnesota requires blaze orange or blaze pink while a firearms deer season is in progress, and it applies to small game hunters too. Treat orange as required for the whole season: missing it during gun deer season is the dangerous error. We have not been able to confirm the exact wording against MN DNR — read the regulations before relying on the detail.
- MN DNR publishes no bag limit we could confirm for this season, so none is shown.
- Open in the northwest zone only. The east-central zone has been closed since 2021 on low population and is not open in 2026.
- The zone boundary is not mapped in this app — the dates are per zone, the zone you are standing in is not yet answered.
What to walk when you get there
Open brushland — grass and low scrub with scattered clumps of aspen or willow, bog margin, and the pine barrens where sand keeps the timber from closing in. It is the opposite of grouse cover: if you cannot see a long way, you are in the wrong place.
Walk the open ground and expect flushes well out; birds hold poorly once the season is a week old and often go up in a bunch and fly a long way. Early season, before they pack, is the only time they sit. Mark where the flock lands and walk it again rather than following singles.
Written for this app rather than read off an agency page — the cover a bird uses does not change at a state line. Everything above that is a date, a limit or an acreage names the source it came from.
Read next
- Where to hunt sharp-tailed grouse in Minnesota — every unit, ranked
- Sharp-tailed grouse hunting in Minnesota — season, limits and range
- How to hunt sharp-tailed grouse in Minnesota
- Sharp-tailed grouse — biology, range and how it is hunted
- Minnesota hunting regulations